Every time Trump tries to deter Iran he screws it up: National Iranian American Council founder

President Donald Trump has no idea what he's doing when he's trying to deter Iran, a CNN panel explained Friday after the president assassinated a top Iranian general.

"Somebody's got to explain 'attacking' to prevent an attack to me," said Josh Rogin, political analyst and columnist for the Washington Post. "Because what you end up having throughout history is a series of excitations, called the escalation ladder, which is what leads you into a war you don't want. But again, today I went to the State Department and they were like, 'Oh, this will deter Iran.' That doesn't really seem to be the case, but that is the stated goal."

Trita Parsi, the founder of the National Iranian American Council explained that from the beginning, everything Trump has done has been to escalate everything with Iran to justify an attack they say would "deter Iran."

"But every time it has caused Iranians to counter-escalate," Parsi said. "The only time we've seen the Shia militia did not attack American forces is when the Obama administration and the Iranians were negotiating and later on implementing the nuclear deal. By going out of that deal, we have, essentially, Trump has unresolved a resolved issue and instigated all of this. And is now leading to a point in which some folks who are saying if not at the precipice of war, but at war."

Watch the full panel discussion below: